12/08/2025
Conventional CABG vs MICS CABG
In the changing world of cosmetics Surgery is also changing fast. There was a time when the Dictum - Bigger incisions meant Bigger surgeons held high but today size of incision is inversely proportional to the skill of Surgeon.
During medieval periods Only scars people loved on their body were War scars and Love bites but today scars on body are like scars on spirit. Scars are constant reminder of the event and we all will agree that No disease can be a Good memory to be reminded off.
Scars attract questions and it refreshes the memories again.
The world is moving fast to a scarless society where we are not reminded of our painful past.
Therefore Besides the Cosmetic benefits Small incisions have many other benefits which rank higher during decision making.
Small scars fasten the healing, reduces the pain, decreases the hospital stay, reduces the cost of treatment and boosts the patient and families Psychologically.
Having said all that decreasing the size of incision poses many difficulties for the Surgical team.
These difficulties multiplies many folds in Thoracic cavity which is a Bony cage.
The usual relaxation and stretching is of little benefit so the team has to modify its skills and instruments to tackle this problem.
At the same time when Cardiac team is fighting with the working space and instruments it has to ensure that the Quality of surgery is not compromised.
Slowly and gradually Cardiac surgery is evolving from its Traditional incision to MICS for all Cardiac surgeries.
Now coming back to the most common and Technically challenging cardiac surgery CABG , CABG is very common cardiac surgery but it’s at the same time very technically challenging because of the size and site of the anastomosis.
CABG too have evolved with the changing time and demand. It started with On Pump arrested CABG to On Pump Beating heart and now OFF PUMP CABG.
So the first dilemma a Cardiac surgeon has while doing MICS CABG is choosing between Off pump and On Pump CABG. During MICS On pump CABG, the surgery becomes comfortable both for the Surgeon and the patient. The anastomosis is complete and All three vessels can be done easily as manipulation of Heart is easy, while Off Pump CABG during MICS puts many restrictions to the surgeon, he can’t manipulate the heart to bring the vessels closer and in front for anastomoses, so usually Single vessel and Double vessel disease on Left side Patient are chosen, for Right side anastomoses the second incision on Right side is needed which increases the discomfort of the patient post operatively very much and the Surgery time.
Even bad vessels pose great challenges during off pump MICS .
So the decision between On pump and Off pump is vital. Although On pump has many technical advantages over Off pump except the Possible disadvantages of Pump both patients and Surgeons are biased towards Off pump CABG. This biasness forces Them to choose Conventional CABG over MICS.